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Here are some tips and tricks that’ll make washing clothes faster, easier and cheaper.
Economy Moves
- Buy large quantities of brand-name detergent somewhere like Costco or Sam’s Club. This saves you repeated trips to the store to renew your supplies, and a la carte prices.
- Downside: These volume purchases will come in gallons of liquid or many pounds of powder, packaged in very heavy and unwieldy containers. So pour some into smaller, more manageable containers for everyday use.
- Powder detergent is generally less expensive per washload.
- The newer your washer, the less detergent you have to use because the machine’s washing action is more efficient.
- Front-loading washers use much less water (7-10 gallons per load) than top-loaders (up to 40 gallons).
Hard Water
Scaly mineral deposits on your showerhead or faucets? Shampoo doesn’t lather well? Dishwasher leaves glasses with whitish residue? That’s hard water — there are too many minerals in it.
- Water with trace minerals over 100 mg/liter is considered “hard” (your local utility can tell you the mg/liter ratio).
- To compensate, you can use a detergent booster for the wash, but it’s smarter to get a water softener for the home.
- It will enhance your shampoos, baths and dishwashing, too.
Washing
- Check pants pockets before washing. Ink pens can create a real mess, and you’ll be extremely ticked off if valuables, like pricey sporting event tickets, get water damaged.
- Don’t overload the washer or the clothing won’t circulate well. It won’t be as clean, and garments may get tangled up.
- Don’t wash or dry lint-producing items (towels, robes, blankets) with stuff that’s more tightly woven, especially if they’re contrasting colors (i.e., white towels with black sweaters).
- Place sheets loosely in the washer’s tub before filling it with water. Don’t wrap them around the washer’s agitator arm or they’ll probably tangle up and not get as clean.
- To prevent snagging, close zippers on clothing before washing. To avoid tangling, tie sweatpants drawstrings and bathrobe belts.
- Inside-out washing recommended: sweaters to prevent pilling, jeans to reduce fading, t-shirts with designs to protect the artwork.
- Pre-treat stains with commercial sprays by soaking them in a detergent/water solution, or by rubbing with a damp bar of Ivory soap.
- Clear your laundry room’s drain tub before washing. A blocked drain may cause the tub to overflow with water, causing expensive damage.
- Wash and dry pillows at the Laundromat. They get uber-heavy when wet and can unbalance and possibly damage your washing machine tub or dryer.
Drying, etc.
- Toss a dry bath towel into the dryer with a load of damp clothes. They’ll dry faster.
- To hang clothes, fit a spring-loaded shower rod between two walls in the laundry room (ideal for hangers) or mount a retractable clothesline.
- Dry down jackets, comforters, pillows, etc. on “delicate” and toss four or five tennis balls into the dryer to fluff them up.
- Minimize wrinkles by removing items from the dryer and hanging or folding them as soon as they’re dry. Especially shirts.
- Fix sticky zippers by 1) applying soap to the teeth, 2) running pencil lead up and down the length of the zipper, or 3) rubbing candle paraffin onto it.
Now you have the knowledge you need to ROCK on laundry day.
My Favorite Laundry Tips: Created on May 15th, 2011. Last Modified on January 21st, 2014
